Just finished this one - a story in two time frames - the present day, from the point of view of the teenage Tamar, who receives a box of clues and coded messages from her grandfather. He has just committed suicide, but clearly intends her to find the box and solve the mystery. The other story involves another Tamar, a man who was involved in the Dutch resistance to the Nazis in the 1940s.
Tangled relationships, the unravelling of the story and its consequences for Tamar, her father and her future make this a really absorbing read, and I learned a lot about the realities of World War II in Holland.
Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Life:An Exploded Diagram, Mal Peet
Supposedly a Young Adult book. A coming of age story, about Clem Ackroyd, a working class grammar school boy living in Norfolk, who falls in love with the daughter of the local landowner. In parallel we follow his development as an artist/ illustrator, and the story of his parents/ grandparents is there as background.
Alongside this the Cuban missile crisis of 1963 threatens to end the world.
I'm still not entirely convinced about the ending, but I read the book at great speed, and never felt it was talking down to a YA audience.
Alongside this the Cuban missile crisis of 1963 threatens to end the world.
I'm still not entirely convinced about the ending, but I read the book at great speed, and never felt it was talking down to a YA audience.
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